The Artist and the Doctor
by theshadowphantom102
Summary: Claire Carlo was a very shy and timid art major with little to no confidence in herself. Suddenly her world is turned upside down when a man called The Doctor shows up and saves her town from an alien. An alien she made up. 11th Doctor/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the characters.**

**A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first ever fan fiction. I have never posted anything like this to the public before, so I apologize if it isn't any good. Well let me know what you all think and feedback is always welcome! :)**

_Beep… beep… beep…_

My alarm clock read 7:15. I groaned and smashed my hand down on the alarm clock causing the annoying beeping to stop. I groggily stumbled out of bed and selected my outfit for the day out of my closet. I pulled on a pair of white skinny jeans, beat up black converse, and a navy blue t-shirt with a bow tie and _bow ties are cool_ printed on it in white. I then made my way for the bathroom and examined myself in the mirror.

I looked awful…

_Well then again I haven't been getting that much sleep lately_…

My waist length curly dark brown hair was sticking out in all sorts of directions making me look like I was from the jungle. My face was paler than usual and there were dark circles under my brown eyes. With a sigh I tamed my mane by pulling it into a high ponytail with a white ribbon and covered the circles under my eyes with some concealer. Deciding that I looked decent enough I grabbed my black messenger bag and a light grey sweatshirt before heading out the door

I walked down the street to a cute little coffee shop called "The Brew". I ordered a small hot chocolate before taking a seat at a table right outside the shop. I breathed in the smell of the crisp autumn air in content as I took a sip of my hot chocolate. I suddenly remembered that my homework still wasn't finished. I sighed deeply and pulled out my sketchbook along with an HB pencil and a magic rub eraser. I stared at the sketch in front of me. It wasn't good enough. I erased it yet again and began sketching out yet another made up alien character for one of my many Illustration courses.

"Hi Claire!" My head perked up at the mention of my name. My two life long friends Maia and Danae both with coffee cups in their hands sat at the table beside me.

"How are you?" Danae asked a sweet smile on her face.

"You know, the usual…" I answered with a heavy sigh as I erased my alien for what seemed like the eleventh time. I threw my pencil down in frustration. "I have the worst case of artist's block right now!" I grumbled rubbing my temples.

"It's ok… It happens to the best of us." Danae answered taking a sip of her coffee. Her blue-green eyes glanced back up at me through her black-framed glasses.

"Yah, it just can't come soon enough… This sketch is due in an hour…and I can't seem to come up with an alien that looks good enough."

"How about you make it a human with lizard type features… that could easily pass off as an alien."

"I've tried that…No wait! I got it!" Ideas suddenly started popping up in my head as I sketched out a half-human half-lizard type creature. I dressed it in old roman armor with intricate alchemist signs engraved in the metal. I was really beginning to get into my drawing when Maia cleared her throat loudly breaking my sudden artist frenzy. I looked up at her only to see a Cheshire cat worthy smile plastered across her lips and her light blue eyes sparkling with mischief. Not a good sign.

"Oh God, what are you up to now?" I asked warily.

She pushed her light blonde bangs out of her face and smirked.

"There's this guy that I met and I think he'll be a great match for you-"

"No." I said cutting her off.

"Oh come on! You never even met him yet!" She protested in an annoying whine.

"I don't do blind dates. Especially when _you_ set them up for me."

"Ok, how was I supposed to know that last guy was a drug dealer?"

"How could he have not been? He was one of the sketchiest human beings I've ever met." I said blowing a piece of hair out of my face.

"Claire, I swear, this guy is not a sketchy drug dealer. He's really nice and is attending med school!" She exclaimed in excitement.

I shook my head. "I'm not ready."

"You're never ready! Claire, you're twenty years old… I think it's about time we found you a boyfriend so you won't end up being one of those creepy old ladies who collect cats and never married or even got a date in their lives."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"She's right." Danae said suddenly stepping in. She brushed a piece of her light brown hair out of her face before continuing. "You've never really interacted with a guy before and it's not like you have to date him or anything. You could just meet him and see what he's like. You'll never know he may end up being a good friend or maybe even something more. But first you need to give him a chance. Plus, I think this is a perfect opportunity to break you out of your shell."

I sighed in defeat. I knew they were right, but I already knew this guy wouldn't like me. I was always too shy or too awkward when I was around new people. I never really had anything interesting to say let alone know what to say. I always choked up. Not once have I ever let myself speak my mind and let others hear what I had to say. I guess you could say I was too afraid to…

I glanced at my friends who stared at me expectantly. I chewed on my bottom lip in thought one of my many habits that I couldn't seem to break.

"Maybe." I said softly.

"Yay!" Maia exclaimed happily, obviously thinking that I would go. "You can meet him at the Halloween party tonight! Oh this is going to be so much fun!"

"I said maybe… I'm not sure if I'll even be able to make it tonight. I have enough work to do as it is." I pulled my phone out of my bag. It read 8:24. "No, no, no! Not again!" I exclaimed jumping to my feet and stuffing my art supplies in my bag. "I'm going to be late again."

"Time never really was you thing…" Maia said with a cringe, as if she had a bad taste in her mouth.

I gave her a look. "That's why I'm not a mathematics major." I answered coolly slinging my messenger bag over my shoulder.

"Personally I think you should come. You're under enough stress as it is. Take a breather every one in a while." She said leaning in slightly.

"I'll think about it. Right now I really have to go! Bye!"

"DON'T FORGET TO WEAR A COSTUME!" Maia called after me.

I speed walked down the streets of Salem, Massachusetts. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew causing leaves to scatter about. I shivered slightly and zipped my sweatshirt up.

_Since when did it get so cold?_

I finally reached the University of Fine Arts. I raced up the stairs with only a minute left to get to class. I stormed into the building relief warming my insides when I realized I was going to make it. My class was just down the hallway. When suddenly I was on the floor.

"Ouch…" I rubbed the back of my head in pain.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry. I didn't see you there. Are you all right?"

_Was that a British accent? This was a very small school and I knew for a fact that there weren't any people from England here._

I looked up and saw a twenty something year old man looking down at me with a look of concern on his face. He was rather handsome with brown hair that fell in front of his grey-green eyes. His outfit however was… different. He was clad in a tweed jacket with a light pink shirt, suspenders, black trousers, brown dress shoes, and a red bow tie.

_Maybe he should be wearing my shirt instead of me…_ I thought to myself.

He extended a hand to me and helped me to my feet.

"Err yah, I'll be fine. Thank you." I said quietly the shy side of me suddenly gaining control. I started to walk away. _Great I'm late… again._ Anxiety started to creep up on me. _No not now._

"You sure you're all right?" The man asked me again.

I waved him off awkwardly. "I'm fine." I managed to say loud enough for him to hear.

"Ok, that's good. I'm the Doctor." He said with a smile and held his hand out for me to shake.

I raised an eyebrow at him and eyed his hand nervously. "Doctor who?"

He seemed to get a big kick out of that question and laughed whole heartily. "Just the Doctor."

"Ok?" I awkwardly shook his hand. "Well, if you excuse me, Doctor? I'm late…" I started to head off towards my classroom.

"Wait!"

I turned around.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

I eyed him warily. "Claire." I managed to say.

He gave me a huge childish smile that seemed to suite him. "Well, I hope to see you again soon Claire." With that he walked out of the building.

**A/N: Sorry the Doctor wasn't really in this chapter, but I promise that he'll be in the next one a lot more! The next chapter will also have a lot more action and what not. If you have any questions feel free to ask and also feel free to give me any feedback! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Doctor Who are any of the characters.**

Luckily Professor White was in a good mood today and let my tardiness slide. All eyes were on me. My face began to heat up from embarrassment as I quickly shuffled to the farthest side of the room where there was an empty easel. Today's class ended up being a deeper look on your alien character. So we were allowed to spend the next three hours fully developing our aliens, which I was thankful for since mine still wasn't done yet.

Professor White had a slight obsession with the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy " and played the soundtrack in the background. "May it be" by Enya was the first to pop up on random. I smiled slightly and let the relaxing music surround me wile I worked.

I added a light green tint to my alien's skin and made his scales more translucent. I shaded in his armor and filled in the alchemist designs with a light neon blue. Looking my creature over I decided he needed something to make him stand out more and give him more character. Using the same light neon blue, I made his eyes slightly fiery and made the same fire come out of his nostrils and fingertips. I had to say, I was pretty satisfied with the outcome of my creation, and it didn't end up being a complete disaster, like I thought it would be.

As I worked on my alien a nagging little voice in the back of my head kept whispering anxious thoughts to me.

_Who was that man? Why does he call himself the Doctor? Surely he must have a name… unless he doesn't want anyone to know his name because he's some crazed psychopath! _ I shook my head. _No anxious thoughts!_ I scolded myself. _You have better things to worry about; like what kind of guy Maia is trying to set you up with this time._ I winced at the thought and pushed all unwanted thoughts out of my head as I tried to remain focused on my artwork.

Five hours later and I was free for the next three days with absolutely no classes. The only downside though was that I had about six hours worth of homework to do, the majority of it being artwork, so I couldn't really complain.

I trudged down the stairs of my school and headed back to my apartment. I rounded the corner that led to my street and stopped dead in my tracks.

_Where the hell did that come from?_

Standing in the middle of the sidewalk was a blue police box? The kind that you would find in London, but I didn't even think they still had those around anymore.

I walked up to it cautiously.

_What was is doing here? It definitely wasn't here this morning. Was this someone's idea of a prank? Maybe it was a cardboard box or something…_

I tentatively knocked on it. It was solid wood.

I continued to examine the police box in puzzlement. Sadly the doors were locked so I couldn't see what was inside. After a few moments I gave up on it and continued down the street to my apartment. I opened the door and flipped on the lights.

"SURPRISE!"

"Oh my god!" I shouted grasping my chest as it beat a million times a minute. Danae and Maia burst into a fit of giggles. "How the hell did you guys get in here? The door was locked!"

"Molly let us in." Danae answered innocently.

I made a mental note to scold my roommate later. "Ok… but why sit in here with the lights off?"

"We knew you were going to be home soon and we decided to scare you." Maia smiled evilly.

I shook my head. "Ok, whatever. Is Molly still here?"

"No she had a date." Maia said coolly, her eyes suddenly brightened as recognition hit her face. "Speaking of which, time to plan out your costume!"

I gulped nervously.

"Did you guys see the police box down the street?" I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Police box?" Danae asked.

"Don't they have those in England?" Maia wondered wrinkling her nose in confusion.

"I think they used to, anyways, on my way home I saw one sitting in the middle of the sidewalk and it definitely wasn't there this morning."

Danae made her way to the door. "Well we didn't see one when we got here, which was about… ten minutes ago?" She turned to Maia, who nodded in agreement.

The three of us made our way outside.

"I thought that maybe it was someone's idea of a prank, but how would they get it here in the first… place…" My voice trailed off as I stared at the sidewalk in astonishment. "How is that possible?" I said under my breath.

I ran to the spot where the police box was not only five minutes ago.

"I swear it was right here! How did it move so fast?"

"Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?" Danae asked concern starting to cross her features.

"No, I'm positive! I-I touched it! It was solid wood!"

"It is Halloween, maybe someone's trying to pull a prank on you." Maia suggested with a shrug.

I walked back to my friends.

"I don't get it. I swear there was a blue police box smack in the middle of the sidewalk. You couldn't miss it!" I sighed in defeat and rested my forehead on Danae's shoulder. "Maybe I'm going crazy." I mumbled.

Danae rubbed my back in reassurance. "No, you're not going crazy. I'm sure it's just someone messing with your head."

"Yah, nothing to worry about." Maia said with a smile. "Now let's go get ready for the party!" She then grabbed us both by the hand and dragged us back to my apartment.

It was almost 7 o'clock and I was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of ramen as I waited for my friends to finish dressing. Maia and Danae then came out of my bedroom all decked out in their Halloween costumes.

Maia was supposed to be some sort of Burlesque style spider queen. She wore a short royal purple and black dress that stopped at about mid thigh with black spider webs trailing off the ends of the sleeves and skirt. Around her neck was a black gothic choker with purple gems decorating it. She wore black fishnet stockings and knee high back leather boots with a 4" heel, which she definitely did not need since she was already 5'7". Her blonde hair was pulled up in a tight bun and a black top hat was pinned to the side of her head. As for her makeup she wore black lipstick and a smokey eye with purple and silver glitter sprayed on the sides of her face in the shape of cobwebs.

Danae however was dressed a lot more modest. She was supposed to be a witch from the medieval era. She wore a black full-length corset dress with a red cloak. Around her neck was a garnet pendant choker and on top of her head was the traditional witch hat with a red sash trailing along the bottom. Her light brown hair was teased out and she dyed grey and black streaks into it. To complete her costume she wore red lipstick and cat eye eyeliner with red stick on jewels trailing along the ends.

"Wow you guys look great!" I said with a smile.

"Claire, why aren't you dressed?" Danae asked.

I thought back to the gothic fairy costume Maia had brought for me. The skirt was way too short for my comfort and I was not strutting around in fishnets and black knee high leather boots that were 6 inches.

"I'm just going to go like this." I said motioning to the outfit I was already wearing.

"Oh, come on! You'd look damn sexy in that costume." Maia pouted.

"I am not meeting a guy in a slutty fairy costume!" I protested.

She glared at me before giving in. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when people make fun of you for wearing a "Bow Ties are Cool" t-shirt instead of a costume."

"People are not going to make fun of me and besides, bow ties are cool…" I mumbled to myself.

"Do people even wear bowties anymore?" Danae asked throwing her purse over her shoulder.

"I met a guy today who was wearing one." I shrugged.

"Was he an elderly man?" Maia joked trying to hold back a laugh.

I shook my head. "No, he was probably in his mid, late 20's." I said casually heading for the kitchen to clean up my bowl.

"Wait what?"

Maia and Danae were suddenly on either side of me bombarding me with questions.

"Was he cute?"

"What's his name?"

"Did you get his number?"

I was about to answer when Maia turned off the sink and dragged me over to the table. She plopped me down in a chair and the two of them crowded around me. I gulped nervously wishing I had kept me mouth shut.

"Ok, spill." Maia said impatiently a huge grin plastered on her face.

"There isn't really much to say." I started. "I was running late for class and I accidentally bumped into him."

"Aww, that's how all cute romances start." Danae said a dopey smile on her face.

"I highly doubt that, I only talked to him for a minute."

"Yah, yah, whatever. What did he look like? Was he cute?" Maia asked growing more impatient by the second.

"I guess… he was really tall, probably around 6ft. He had brown hair, green eyes and he was British. He seemed kind of childish though." I shrugged. "Why are you guys so interested in this guy? Besides weren't you trying to set me up with someone else?"

"Screw him, this guy's British!" Maia shrieked in excitement. "Please tell me you got his number!"

"No, I did not get his number. I don't even know the guy, besides I doubt I'll ever see him again.

"Claire, where do we live?'

"Salem." I answered giving her a confused look. _What did this have to do with anything?_

"And what day is it?"

"The 31st." I said deciding to be difficult.

"It's Halloween you idiot! So he's obviously here for the witch craft, the history and most importantly the parties!" She shimmied her shoulders for more emphasis on "parties".

"He didn't seem like that kind of guy." I said.

"Come on girls, we're going to go hunt this guy down!" Maia announced in determination.

"What about Matt?" Danae asked.

"Cancel him, we're hooking Claire up with a British guy!"

"But what if he's a creep." I protested. _Why doesn't she think things through?_

"Well, there's only one way to find out!"

With that I got dragged out into the crisp autumn air. The moon was full and a dense fog was covering it causing it to give off an eerie glow, the perfect Halloween night.

Screams and loud music could be heard from down the street where all the haunted houses, museums, and parties were going on.

This was going to be a long night.

**A/N:**** Sorry I lied... The Doctor and all the action will be in Chapter 3. Thank you for reading and feel welcome to give feedback! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Doctor Who or nay of it's characters.**

**A/N:**** Sorry if this chapter isn't that good... I haven't been feeling that well lately :P **

"Maia, let's think about this rationally!" I begged as she dragged me through the crowded streets of Salem, Danae following close behind. "We don't even know this guy! For all we know he could be a creepy psychopath or a serial killer!"

"Claire, will you stop being such a worry wart! Live in the moment for once!" She snapped.

I wrenched my hand out of hers and stopped walking. "I'm going home." I mumbled before turning around and heading in the opposite direction.

"Wait, Claire, I'm sorry!" Maia shouted after me. I ignored her and blindly made my way through the crowds

"Claire! Please, just wait!" Danae called running up behind me.

I groaned slightly before turning around to face Danae. "You know she didn't mean it. She's just trying to get you out of your shell. Yah, she might be going about it the wrong way, but you know her intentions are good."

I sighed heavily "I know, I'm just not the partying type. Besides, I don't feel comfortable in all of these crowds and being set up with some guy I don't even know!"

"Yah, that was a little uncalled for… but you know how Maia can be."

I rolled my eyes in agreement. "Yah, will you tell her that I'm not mad at her and make sure she doesn't get herself into any trouble. I just need to go home right now."

Danae nodded in understanding. "Ok, well I'll see you later. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do." I smiled at her.

With that I made my way through the crowds of people clad in all sorts of costumes waiting in lines at museums, haunted houses, and other attractions. I was about halfway through the crowd when something caught my eye.

_How is that even possible?_

Standing a few feet away from me was an exact replica of the alien creature I had drawn for my Illustration class. Every little detail was spot on from the designs on his armor to the blue fire coming out of his eyes and nostrils. I stared at him in bewilderment.

_How could anyone even pull that off? Was someone stealing my ideas? How did they even get the blue fire?_

I continued to try and wrap my mind around what was in front of me when someone crashed into me for the second time that day breaking me out of my trance.

"Oh dear I am so sorry. I really am a klutz. Are you ok- Claire!" I stared in shock at the same bow-tied-wearing-doctor from earlier today. _Thank God my friends weren't here._ "Well isn't this nice. I was hoping I'd bump into you again." He said with a smile.

"I-it's nice to see you too." I stuttered. I quickly looked back to where the alien was, but he was gone. _Darn it._

"Enjoying your Halloween? Lot's of interesting things to see in good old Salem; haven't been here in ages. I certainly missed all the witchcraft and history this town has to offer." He rambled as he rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Yah, it get's really busy around this time of year… Are you ok?"

He seemed to have frozen with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Oh my stars…" He said under his breath.

"What?"

All of a sudden he flailed his arms about in excitement, a stupid grin on his face.

"Finally someone agrees with me!" He cried happily and pulled me into a tight hug.

I quickly pushed away from him, as my cheeks grew hot and panic started to creep up on me.

He seemed to have sensed my discomfort and immediately apologized. "Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you; it's just that I really like your shirt. You see everyone I've met has always asked me why I wear a bow tie because they think they're rather dreadful looking, but Claire, my friend, your shirt explains it all. Bow ties are and forever will be cool." He grinned pointing at my shirt.

I shifted uncomfortably. "Err, thank you." To be honest I didn't really know what else to say. This guy was just strange and I didn't know if he was some creep or if he was just overly friendly.

"May I ask where you got that beautiful shirt?" He asked eagerly.

"I um… found it in a store at the m-" My voice trailed off when I spotted the person dressed up as my alien character again standing a few feet behind the Doctor.

The Doctor arched one of his none existent eyebrows at me before turning around.

"Oh wow! Now there's something I've never seen before." He said in excitement a huge grin on his face. "I just love discovering new species!"

"What are you talking about, it's a costume." I asked starting to fear for this man's sanity.

"A costume? You humans are so silly sometimes." He laughed as he grabbed a hold of my hand and started dragging me towards the alien while rambling on about a lot of nonsense. "That Claire; is an alien! An alien I've never seen before which is very rare because I've pretty much encountered every type of species that the universe has created."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked in confusion as I let him drag me along with him.

We stopped in front of the guy with the costume. I couldn't help, but glare at him. _Stealing my idea. _I thought angrily.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Where may I ask are you from? I've never met anyone like you before. Always really exciting when I meet a new species." The Doctor rambled.

The guy stayed silent and stared at us intently. I stared back at him uncertainly. _There's no possible way he knows that it's an Oxyopythene from the planet Spockyotythamous. I didn't even write that down on the paper with the drawing, in fact I just made that up right now on the spot. At least he couldn't steal that idea._

"I am an Oxyopythene. I hail from the planet Spockyotythamous." He claimed in a raspy voice.

I tensed up and let my hand slip out of the Doctor's as I stared at the creature in shock.

"Claire are you ok?" The Doctor asked in concern.

I took a step back and eyed the creature warily.

"How do you know that?" I asked my voice shaking slightly with anger. "I never wrote that down on the paper, not to mention even spoke of it to anyone. I just thought of that right now! Are you reading my mind or something? How did you get my drawings? How could you have been able to make this costume in only a couple of hours?"

"I don't understand." The creature rasped.

"What do you mean you don't understand?" I was growing hysterical. "Either you've been stealing my ideas or you really are an alien, but I highly doubt that because aliens aren't real!"

The Doctor cleared his throat causing me to look at him.

"Right?" I asked him fearing the answer. Tears were starting to prickle at my eyes and my teeth were starting to chatter slightly.

The alien then started to walk away clearly growing bored with us.

The Doctor didn't answer instead he grabbed my hand and squeezed it slightly. "I'll explain everything later, I promise." He gave me a small smile before darting off after the alien.

I stood there in the middle of the crowded street feeling completely lost and confused.

_What just happened?_

**A/N:**** Hope you all enjoyed! Sorry it was kind of short... I'll try to update as frequently as I can, but my AP exams are coming up soon so I might not post as often as I would like to. **

**Reviews are welcome! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Doctor Who all rights go to the BBC**

**A/N:**** Hi guys I'm back! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up I had a lot of AP work going on, but AP's are over now! WOO HOO! Anyways enjoy the chap!**

_I must be losing my mind. Of course aliens aren't real. That doctor guy probably thinks I belong in the Looney bin after the way I was carrying on to that alien… No it was not an alien! It was a guy in a costume!_ I shook my head in exasperation. _Why can't my mind just shut up for once?_

Suddenly loud screams could be heard and the crowd around me erupted into a panic. People pushed past me in a hurry causing me to be tossed about and almost get trampled on by their sudden stampede. I managed to get out of the crowd and stood off to the side. Everyone was freaking out and trying to get away as quickly as possible.

_What are they running from?_

I tried peering over the frantic flock of people in hopes of catching a glimpse of what was causing all of the commotion, but there was no way I could see anything from where I was standing.

_I hate being so short!_

I scanned the area before spotting a couple of crates stacked on top of each other a few feet away from me. Without hesitation I scrambled to the top of the crates and gazed over the crowd of panicking people. Just down the block over by the witch dungeon I saw a blaze of blue fire.

"It can't be…" I said under my breath.

"CLAIRE!" I startled slightly at the mention of my name before looking down to see Maia, Danae, my roommate Molly and her date, Neil looking up at me, panic and worry etched on their faces.

"What are you doing here? We thought you went home." Maia asked frantically.

"Well, I was_" I started before Danae cut me off.

"Oh never mind that." She said worry tainting her features. "Are you ok? "

I jumped off the stack of crates and joined my friends.

"Did you guys see that?" I asked.

"What the blue fire? Of course we saw it! Everyone saw it that's why we need to get out of here!" Maia panicked.

"Did you see what was causing the fire?" I asked firmly, taking my friends off guard.

"No, we just started running with the crowd. Now come on we need to get back to the apartment!" Molly begged.

"No, I need to see what's happening." I protested heading in the direction of the fire. "Go on without me."

"Claire are you out of your mind?"

"This is not like you to run into danger!"

"You're usually the first one running!"

"Claire, please come back!"  
Ignoring their pleas I ran into the crowd hoping that I lost them. I pushed my way through until I was a few feet away from where the destruction was taking place. Everyone had already deserted the area, except for a few people who were injured or worse. A few buildings were glowing blue and the creature that I drew stood in the middle of it. The creature I created. I was the cause of this. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach and I felt a wave of nausea come over me. _Was I a murderer? No this thing… This monster was the murderer, not me. _Mustering up all the courage I could, I called out to it.

"Hey, Oxyopythene!"

It turned around swiftly and set it's fiery blue eyes on me. I suddenly felt a lot smaller than I actually was and wanted to run like hell until I was as far away from this thing as possible. _No Claire, you can do this…_

I gulped before finding my voice again "Why are you here?" I asked with an authority I didn't even know I could posses.

The Oxyopythene eyed me curiously and started to walk towards me. I felt my body stiffen when it was only less than a couple of inches away from me. My heart was beating at a dangerously fast rate and my palms were sweating bullets. I felt it's icy breath on my face, causing a shiver to trickle down my spine. The blue flames tickled at my skin, but they didn't even faze me. _Why wasn't my face on fire?_ The fire merely felt like a cool breeze wiping at my face.

"You brought me here." It rasped out.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "But I didn't intend to. I didn't even know that you would come to life, heck I didn't even think that was possible." I laughed nervously.

It opened its mouth to speak again when all of a sudden I heard a loud buzzing sound.

"Oi, Claire! Quick get out of the way!"

I turned around and saw the same bow tie-wearing Doctor come running up to me a glowing green torch of some sort in his hand.

Outraged, the Oxyopythene turned away from me and headed for the Doctor. It's eyes blazed with anger as it took in a deep breath, getting ready to blast the Doctor with its blue flames.

I squeaked in surprise when the Doctor suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me behind a building for shelter.

"What did you do that for?" I heaved trying to catch my breath.

"It was about to shoot blue flames at us, what else was I supposed to do?" He exclaimed putting his hands up in mock defense. He then took the strange glowing green torch out again and started scanning me with it. I arched an eyebrow in confusion at him while he studied it once he was done scanning me.

He frowned slightly causing the crease marks in his forehead to deepen. He glanced at me and pursed his lips in thought.

"What is that thing?" I asked breaking him out of his trance.

"Sonic screwdriver." He answered while putting it back in his jacket pocket. He started pacing back and forth while running his fingers through his floppy hair in frustration as he mumbled randomly to himself.

"Err, Doctor, don't you think we should try to reason with it… maybe?" I asked wringing my hands shyly.

He quickly spun around on his heal and faced me an unreadable expression on his face. "Tried that before, didn't work out too well." He continued to pace and ramble while I stood off to the side trying to muster up the courage to explain my plan to him.

I took a deep breath and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around so quickly he nearly knocked me over.

"Oops, sorry I really am a klutz." He said steadying me so I wouldn't fall over.

"I think I might be able to reason with it." I blurted out.

He eyed me unsteadily.

"Before you came, the Oxyopythene was talking to me and actually answering my questions. He didn't try to hurt me or anything!" I added quickly. "In fact, the blue fire... some of it brushed against my face and it didn't even faze me. It just felt cold…" I said looking ahead in the distance remembering the chill of its breadth. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered slightly at the memory.

The Doctor placed his hands on my shoulders and gazed into my eyes. I never noticed just how beautiful his eyes were the last time I looked into them. Yes, the light grey-green shade was lovely, but there was something more to them; they had a certain glint to them that I just couldn't put my finger on. They seemed…old, trusting, intelligent and so many other things that I never thought I would see just by looking into a person's eyes. Every cautious thought I had about him in the past suddenly vanished and I felt like I could actually trust him.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked searching my eyes.

I gulped nervously before nodding my head. He smiled slightly and kissed my forehead taking me completely off guard. He pulled away and took my hand in his.

"Let's see what we can find out eh?"

**A/N:**** Hope you all enjoyed. Feel free to leave a review and all that jazz :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own anything Doctor Who all rights go to the BBC **

The two of us ran out from behind the building we were currently using for shelter and sought out the Oxyopythene. Which wasn't too hard because I had to push the Doctor out of the way from a sudden burst of blue flames. The flames circled around me in a fiery chill. A shiver ran through my body as the cool flames licked at my skin causing goose bumps to surface on my arms. Shivering slightly I pulled away from the chilling flames as they began to die out.

"How… how…" The Doctor gasped out looking at me in shock as he ran his fingers through his hair, not quite knowing what to do with himself. "Those flames burn! I mean no offense or anything, but how are you not a pile of ash right now?"

"I don't know… they just don't affect me. Now aren't we going to go question that thing?" I asked in an attempt to get him back on track.

He raised his pointer finger in the air and formed an "O" with his lips. "Right, come along Claire." He grabbed a hold of my hand and we ran in the direction the flames had come from.

We rounded the corner and came face to face with the Oxyopythene. The Doctor and I stopped abruptly in an attempt to not run right into it. The Oxyopythene stared at me with its fiery gaze. I tensed slightly earning a concerning look from the Doctor.

He lowered his head slightly and whispered lightly in my ear. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, his breadth tickling my ear slightly.

I nodded and the Doctor squeezed my hand in reassurance before letting it go. My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I cleared my throat nervously.

"Ok, let's try this again shall we?" I said under my breadth as the Oxyopythene waited for me to continue. I looked back at the Doctor, beginning to feel unsure of myself. He nodded slightly in the direction of the Oxyopythene. I quickly turned back to face the creature and began to interrogate it.

"Why are you here?"

The Oxyopythene blinked slowly before answering in its raspy voice "You brought me here."

"I know, but _why _are you here?" I asked softly trying not to let my voice waiver in fear.

It paused in thought. Its blazing blue eyes seemed to see straight into my soul.

"I did not intend to cause harm to others, I only wanted to protect you."

I stared back at it in confusion. _It wanted to protect me? From what? I wasn't in any danger… was I?_

"But I'm not in any danger." I said in an attempt to reassure it as well as myself.

"I am only here to protect you from those who wish to harm you." It rasped.

"But those were innocent people, they weren't trying to hurt me." I told it gently.

The Oxyopythene looked from me to the Doctor before resting its unsettling eyes back on me.

"I am sorry, I must have been mistaken." It said hanging its head in shame as it dropped to its knees and bowed before me.

I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do as the Oxyopythene bowed at me feet in embarrassment.

"Err… Doctor? What do I do?" I asked between my teeth not taking my eyes off the alien bowing at my feet.

In a flash, the Doctor was at my side. He clapped his hands together causing the Oxyopythene to jump back to its feet.

"So, Oxyopythene… do you have a name? I feel rather rude just calling you by the name of your species." The Doctor laughed guiltily.

"You may call me Perious."

The Doctor smiled happily and draped an arm across my shoulders. "Well then Perious, perhaps we should take you back home then. No need to worry about Claire, she's in no danger and if you feel the need to reassure yourself, just pop on by and visit her."

_Wait visit me? He was going to let some strange alien visit me whenever it pleased? What was with this guy? _I suddenly felt the urge to elbow him in the ribs, but I held back deciding it probably wouldn't be a good idea._ He was taking everything a little to well though… almost like he's done this on a daily basis._

"Until then, farewell Claire, Doctor." Perious said bowing slightly to the both of us.

All of a sudden a harsh wind picked up and blew around us as Perious disintegrated into thin air before our eyes. Once Perious was gone the wind died down and the gentle breeze that was blowing before returned.

I stared at the spot where Perious once stood in complete and utter shock, my mouth hanging slightly agape.

The Doctor took it upon himself to close it shut with his hand. I looked up at him in confusion.

"Where did he go?" I asked stating the obvious, as usual.

"Back to his home planet most likely. Looks like you got yourself a guardian." He said with a laugh.

"So you're completely cool with that? An alien who was once attacking my town is now allowed to come and visit me whenever it wants to make sure I'm all right?" I asked beginning to get my common sense knocked back into me.

"Yup." He said as he began walking off.

"Wait!" I called as I ran up to him. I fell back into step with him as we headed to who knows where. "You seem to take these things pretty lightly. Aliens coming out of nowhere and attacking a small town, helping in any way that you can and then you're off on your merry way. You probably do this just about everyday, don't you?" I asked. Never in my entire life had I been so forward and able to speak my mind so freely, it was really beginning to scare me.

The Doctor flashed me a knowing smile as we reached a blue telephone box, the same blue telephone box that was on my street earlier this afternoon.

"Just about."

**A/N:**** Hope you all enjoyed and feel free to give feedback! I love reading your reviews! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Doctor Who all rights go to BBC**

"Who are you?" I asked curiously. _This man was definitely not normal…_

He leaned casually against the telephone box and crossed his arms across his chest, the smile already on his face growing wider by the second.

"I'm the Doctor." He stated in a matter of fact tone of voice.

_Like I didn't already know that? This man was impossible._

I eyed him carefully, the look on his face was beginning to prove that he probably knew already what I was going to ask, which was a bit unnerving, but then again this man was definitely beyond ordinary.

"Ok then,_ what_ are you?"

He clapped his hands together in delight and did a mini jump so that he was standing only a few inches away from me. I craned my head up to look him in the eye since he was so freaking tall compared to my tiny 5'1" frame.

"Now this may come as a bit of a shock so brace yourself, ok. Ready?"

I looked up at him uncertainly. Anxiety was starting to creep up at me begging me to run and get the hell out of there before I got kidnapped or something. _What have I gotten myself into?_ Hesitantly I nodded my head causing a huge grin to grace his lips. Placing his arms behind his back he leaned in slightly his lips only a few centimeters away from my ear.

"I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey." He whispered lightly his warm breadth tickling at my ear. He pulled away and looked at me expectantly as he rocked back and forth on his feet slightly in anticipation.

I stood there in silence for a moment pondering carefully over the title of 'Time Lord' in my head. _Time Lord… a Lord of Time? What did that even mean? Gallifrey? Where was that? And what was with the telephone box?_ So many questions were reeling through my head I was finding it hard to focus.

"So is a Time Lord… are you an alien of some sort then?"

"Well, I guess you can say that." He said as he started walking around me and talking with his hands as he rambled. "In your eyes I'm an alien, but then again in my eyes you're an alien as well as a lot of other people. Oh Claire, so many species, planets, and civilizations to see!" He exclaimed spinning around to face me as he once again leaned up against the side of the telephone box. "What do you say Claire, want to have a look?" He asked a smirk and a strange twinkle in his eye as he gestured to the door of the telephone box.

I crossed my arms against my chest eying him carefully.

"So let me get this straight. You're a Time Lord, an alien from the planet Gallifrey and you want to take me with you and basically show me the rest of the universe in a British telephone box?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Basically, yeah." He said with a shrug. "So what do you say?"

I scratched my head in thought. "I think you're nuts."

With that he started laughing whole-heartedly. "Most people do."

I giggled slightly at that. _This man… or alien… was so strange… but dare I say it, I think I was beginning to warm up to him a bit more… a lot more faster than I usually would… there was just something about this 'Doctor' that made him so comfortable to be around. But then again there was always that little bit of doubt that always sat in the back of my head nagging at me and bringing all of my fears back to the surface. What if…_

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I asked suddenly.

"You don't… but then again things haven't exactly been what you would call normal for you today now have they?"

_Of course today hasn't been normal, it's been way past normal and I had a feeling it would get even weirder if I accepted this man's offer, but then again curiosity was beginning to get the best of me…_

I chewed on my bottom lip before finally making up my mind. "Fine, but how are you going to show me the universe in a telephone box?"

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Claire." He grinned like a madman and threw me wink. With the snap of his fingers the door opened. I looked up at him hesitantly only to receive an encouraging smile and a nod towards the now opened door. Tentatively I made my way into the box and a small gasp escaped my lips. It was enormous. There was a small staircase leading up to a glass platform with some console of some sort in the middle of the room. Multiple staircases lead off of the glass platform and into other unknown passageways. Blue and orange lights lit up the room and strange circular windows decorated the walls. A soft humming sound filled my ears as I gazed around the room in wonderment.

"Welcome to the TARDIS!" The Doctor exclaimed happily throwing his arms in the air for emphasis. "It can travel anywhere in time and space."

I stood there in shock with my mouth hanging slightly open; I probably looked like I was catching flies.

The Doctor spun around and looked me in the eye. "So any remarks? Memorable catch phrases? I've heard them all."

I did one more quick scan around the room before running outside. I heard the Doctor chuckling softly as I ran around the outside of the box knocking around it and examining its size outside before running back in.

"It's… the outside… the inside… what? How? Oh my God." I rambled putting a hand up to my mouth as I tried wrapping my head around the impossible.

The Doctor watched me in amusement before striding over to the console fiddling with a whole bunch of different buttons and levers. "What's the matter Claire, cat got your tongue?" He joked.

I took a seat on the captain's chair and ran my fingers through my hair. "What did you say this was again?"

"It's called the TARDIS. Short for 'Time and Relative Dimensions in Space'. It can go anywhere in time and space and it's mine!" He exclaimed happily plugging away rapidly on an old typewriter.

"If it's a time machine slash space ship… then how come it looks like a phone box on the outside?" I asked curiously.

"It's kind of like camouflage, it's disguised itself as a police telephone box from 1963. Every time the TARDIS dematerializes in a new location, within the first nanosecond of landing it analyzes its surroundings, calculates a twelve dimensional data map of everything within a thousand mile radius and determines which outer shell would blend in best with the environment. And then it disguises itself as a police telephone box from 1963… it's a bit of a fault, been meaning to fix it." He rambled at such a rapid pace I was almost positive that I missed most of what he had said.

"So where do you want to go first?" He asked jumping in front of me nearly scaring the crap out of me.

I clutched my racing heart. "Excuse me?" I asked breathlessly.

"I said where do you want to go first? All of time and space here at your fingertips surely there must be somewhere you want to go? Something you want to see; experience something you've never thought possible." He asked bending down to my level.

_A chance to see the universe… anything I wanted to see, this man believed he could show it to me with this amazing machine that was capable of traveling anywhere in both time and space. It was definitely unbelievable, but then again I have witnessed many unbelievable things today…_

"Surprise me." I said.

The Doctor grinned like crazy and ran over to the console. He started running around the console flipping different switches, pressing buttons and who knows what else. Finally he rested his hand on a lever and turned his head to me.

"Hold on tight!" He said pulling the lever. A loud humming noise slowly began to pick up as I desperately held on to the railing as we were suddenly flung about. "Hello everything!" He laughed as we took off into time and space.

**A/N:**** Hope you all enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Doctor Who.**

The TARDIS came to a halt and the Doctor grinned wildly at me. "Ready to see something truly amazing?" Eagerness lit up his face as he waited impatiently for my answer.

"Where are we?" I asked eying the TARDIS doors nervously. Both fear and curiosity were eating away at me as I wondered what could possibly be hiding behind those doors.

The Doctor grabbed me by the hand and bounced down the steps in excitement as he led me to the doors. He spun around on his heel and put his hands behind his back. A huge contagious grin once again graced his features causing me to smile back. "There's the smile!" He said with a laugh. I felt my cheeks start to burn from embarrassment as I tried hiding my smile behind my hands. The Doctor placed his hand on the door handle before turning his head around to face me. He leaned in close and brought his voice down to a low whisper. "Close your eyes."

Immediately I obeyed and the sound of the door clicking open reached my ears. I attempted to open an eye out of curiosity but a hand quickly covered them before I could actually see anything.

"Oi! No peaking!" The Doctor scolded laying his free hand on my right shoulder as he lead me outside.

"Welcome to Transylvania!" The Doctor exclaimed as he removed his hand from my eyes.

I gasped at the sight before me. We stood on top of a steep hill covered in dark blue-green grass peppered with tiny light blue flowers that glowed like fireflies. The sky was a light grey with an enormous red-orange sun lighting up the sky. The hill we stood on top of overlooked the most beautiful city I have ever seen. The buildings were made up of what appeared to be different kinds of crystals. They ranged from many different colors, the majority consisting of white, grey and different shades of purple. The red orange sun hit the crystals at just the right angle causing them to glimmer beautifully in the light.

"It's beautiful…" I said under my breath. "How is this even real? I must be dreaming…"

At that moment the Doctor pinched my arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?" I asked rubbing my now sore arm.

"You thought you were dreaming, I was just proving you wrong. That is what humans do right? Pinch each others arms when they think they're dreaming."

I glared at him in annoyance causing him to shuffle uncomfortably. "Right. Sorry. Let's go see what this planet has to offer eh?"

With that the Doctor linked my arm through his and led the way to the spectacular city before us.

We came to a halt at a crystal gate. Intricate swirls and patterns were carved into the sparkling light purple stone making it appear extremely delicate and fragile. Manning the gate was a very odd looking 7ft tall man. He was extremely thin and boney making him look like he would fall apart at any moment. His skin was a very light blue and semi transparent allowing you to catch a small glimpse of the bones beneath his skin. Not a single hair was visible on him; he didn't even have any eyebrows. His frail form was cloaked in a light black cloak that shimmered whenever the light hit it. Decorating his translucent skin were glittering silver tattoos shaped in intricate swirls and patterns similar to the ones carved on the gate. His most captivating feature was definitely his eyes. They were so pale that the iris was barely visible making his pupils really stand out.

"Welcome to Transylvania. Do you have a pass?" He asked an eerie smile gracing his features.

"Oh! Right! I almost forgot! Hold on I have it here somewhere." The Doctor rummaged frantically through his pockets before finally pulling out a small black pad. He flashed it at the gatekeeper, who seemed pleased even though it was only a blank white card inside.

"Enjoy you're stay." The gatekeeper said as he let us in, the eerie smile never leaving his face.

One we were out of earshot from the gatekeeper I turned to the Doctor. "The pass is only a blank card?"

"Oh no, this is psychic paper. Very handy, works brilliantly, see?" He spun around and flashed the blank card at me.

"It's blank."

The Doctor turned the card over in his hand before looking up at me in curiosity. "You can't read physic paper." He uttered under his breath.

"Is that bad?" I asked in confusion.

"No, no. Just different, come along, Claire." He said walking off. I ran after him and linked my arm through his again, afraid if we separated I would get lost.

"Transylvanians are a very fascinating species. They're pretty similar to humans, but they're skin varies in color and they tend to be taller, skinnier, and more translucent. They're actually very fond of humans and a few of them like to go to and from Earth as much as they please. You've probably seen one before, just never realized it. They're also really creative and artistic! Thought you'd might like that since you're an artist. Ooh, maybe we can find you some Transylvanian art supplies!" The Doctor rambled happily as we strolled through the crowd of Transylvanians.

I watched in awe as we walked past Transylvanians of different height, color, and age. All of their outfits, makeup, and hairstyles were equally outrageous. One of them was completely decked out in feather boas of red, orange, and yellow. Some of them it was even hard to tell what gender they belonged to. That's when it all clicked.

"Doctor, are they cross dressers?" I asked curiously.

"Some of them I suppose. They usually like to dress up in whatever form of attire they please, it's part of their culture." He glanced down at me in concern. "Claire, are you alright? The color's completely drained from your face." He put a hand to my forehead in an attempt to check my temperature. Across the street from us I spotted a Transylvanian who seemed to notice us. He was staring rather intently at the pair of us, causing my anxiety to burst through the roof.

"Doctor, I'm fine. I just think that maybe it would be better if we went back to the TARDIS. Maybe venture a different planet, time period, anywhere, but here!" I said frantically not taking my eyes off the Transylvanian across the street.

"Oh don't worry, Claire. They're friendly. I won't let them hurt you, I promise." The Doctor draped his arm around my shoulders in reassurance.

"But they're Transylvanians. Have you not heard of Rocky Horror?" I whispered through gritted teeth.

A laugh escaped from the Doctor's lips. "Is that what you're so worried about? Don't worry none of them are like that. Richard O'Brien just happened to accidentally bump into one on Earth and made up all of that crazy, inappropriate…stuff." The Doctor cleared his throat awkwardly and removed his arm from my shoulders. He started tugging at his collar in discomfort, almost as if it were choking him.

At that moment the Transylvanian from across the street was standing in front of us a friendly smile plastered across his black painted lips. His skin was pure white with a light dusting of black blush across his cheekbones. His eyes were a light may green which were outlined in a dark smokey eye. He had pin straight blonde hair that came just past his shoulders as well as bangs that were cut straight across, just covering his black outlined eyebrows. He was decked out in a black vest with a pocket watch hanging from the pocket and an emerald green suit jacket and pants.

"Erasmus!" The Doctor exclaimed happily before leaning in and kissing the air beside both of his cheeks. He then motioned to me. "This is my companion Claire." I smiled shyly at Erasmus earning a slight nod of the head from the Transylvanian. "How've you been? I haven't seen you in probably about a thousand years now. How's Aeliana?"

"That's why I've come to you Doctor." Erasmus slurred sadly.

"What's happened?" The Doctor's smile fell automatically as if it were never even there.

"About three hundred years ago, Aeliana and I had a daughter, Valeria. She was the most beautiful little treasure I could of asked for. Well anyways, about a few months ago my dear Valeria disappeared. She vanished without a trace in the middle of the night. I tucked her in the night before and the next morning she was rather late coming to breakfast. I went to go fetch her and she was gone. I don't know where she could've gone; it is very unlike her to runaway especially for this long. Shortly after, other children were beginning to disappear as well. All in the middle of the night, taken from their beds without a sound. It's very worrisome. Can you help us Doctor? The police have been nothing but the useless lazy bums that they are." Erasmus pleaded.

The Doctor sniffed the air suddenly and frowned. "Anything else out of the ordinary? Anything different or new happen between the time Valeria disappeared and now?" The Doctor asked before licking his finger and twirling it around in the air. I raised an eyebrow at him. _This guy's nuts…_

"I'm not entirely sure…" Erasmus put a boney finger to his chin in thought. "We got a new Gatekeeper a week before Valeria disappeared."

"Right. Thought so." The Doctor looked around wildly before grabbing my hand and dashing towards a dark alleyway, leaving a confused Erasmus in the dust.

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed feel free to leave a review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Doctor Who, all rights go to the BBC**

We came to a stop at the end of the alleyway, a dead end keeping us from going any further. I quickly wriggled my hand out of The Doctor's and wiped it on my jeans in disgust. "Next time you decide to lick your fingers don't go grabbing my hand shortly after, ok?"

Completely ignoring me, The Doctor ran up to the brick wall in front of us and sniffed it before finally licking it. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned the wall before examining the results carefully.

"What are you doing?" I asked crossing my arms in front of my chest and raising an eyebrow at him.

"Ah Ha! Thought so!" He exclaimed happily as he continued to ignore me. "Definitely the source."

"Doctor, what's going on?" I asked again, this time finally being acknowledged.

"Radiation! I thought something was off. You can smell a tiny bit of radiation in the air, not enough to harm anyone, but enough for someone with a good sense of smell to pick up. And for some reason this brick wall is giving off radiation…" He put his ear up to the wall and a faint smile tugged at his lips. "Got cha!"

The Doctor then flicked out his sonic screwdriver and ran the glowing green light in some sort of pattern along a few of the bricks. The bricks then started to glow neon blue before they disintegrated away leaving a small passageway open.

"Ready?" The Doctor held his hand out to me, a small smile gracing his lips.

I tentatively placed my hand in his earning a gentle squeeze of reassurance before he led me through the passageway. It was pitch black.

"Holy crap it's dark!" I whimpered gripping The Doctor's hand tighter.

The Doctor suddenly pulled out a huge bar of light out of his jacket pocket.

"Where were you keeping that?" I asked in shock, not have the slightest idea of where he could've been hiding a torch that big.

"Doesn't matter. We have light!" His face lit up happily before he tugged me along with him down the narrow passageway.

We continued on in silence until we reached a spacious circular room.

"Oh my god." My breath hitched in my throat as I took in the disturbing site before me.

The room was pitch black except for glowing blue tanks set in a circle around a larger tank in the center. Inside the tanks were children… unconscious children… It appeared as if they were sleeping, but I wasn't entirely sure. _Please let them be sleeping _I prayed. The tank in the center glowed the same blue color as the tanks that held the children, but there were tiny white orbs floating about.

The Doctor immediately dropped my hand and walked up to the tank in the center scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. A frown crossed his features as read whatever sort of readings he was picking up. He continued to run around the room scanning the tanks, his frown deepening by the second as started to grow frustrated.

"Doctor, what's going on?" I asked biting my bottom lip in worry. I moved to stand next to him, watching the many tiny orbs dance around one another in the eerie blue glow.

"They're draining something from these children, but the sonic isn't reading the substance for some reason. But, whatever they are draining from these children is being collected into this tank and its being mixed with other components of very high energy, which explains the reading for radiation. If this continues however, this tank could explode and destroy every living creature on this planet."

"How do we stop it?" I asked quickly.

"Easy, we turn off the tanks, release the children and bring them back to their families, and we find whoever's doing this and stop them." The Doctor answered coolly. "Oh and we only have thirty five minutes."

"Thirty five minutes?" I asked in disbelief. "How is that easy?"

"Meh, I've saved the Earth in 20 minutes it shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully I didn't just jinx that. Right now Claire, what I need you to do is take the sonic and point it like so while pressing this button." He demonstrated on one of the tanks containing a little boy probably around the age of three. The glowing blue water that held the child started to drain and the young boy started to wake up.

"Once they're all awake and out of those tanks do the same thing to the tank in the center. That should stop the process. Got it?"

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Now do not lose this ok? I am trusting you with the sonic, do not break it, disrupt it, or change the settings. If you do, I will drop you off on a planet and trust me it won't smell very pretty. " The Doctor scolded before placing it gingerly in my outstretched hand.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your baby." I joked.

The Doctor smiled slightly shaking his head at me in amusement. He pulled the ultra violet torch out of his jacket and placed it in my other hand. "Might need this as well."

"Now promise me one more thing." The Doctor placed both of his hands on my shoulders and looked me square in the eye. "If anything goes wrong, run. Run as fast as you can to the TARDIS and do not stop for anyone. Good luck." With that he kissed the top of my forehead before running out of the room.

I stared at the empty spot he once stood and shook my head slightly. _Right, run if something goes wrong. But what do I do with the children? I can't just leave them here? _

"Where am I? Where's my mommy?"

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and turned to the little boy banging on the glass of the tank. Tears were rolling down his chubby white cheeks and he stared back at me fear tainting his features.

"Don't worry I'll get you out." I said in an attempt to reassure him.

I sonicked the door open and the little boy practically jumped on me and cried into my stomach.

"Oh its ok, little one. You'll see your mommy soon." I reassured him as I scooped him up into my arms.

I ran around the room letting children out as quickly as possible. I had only one child left when all of a sudden the lights flickered on and off several times. _Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up._ I quickly finished releasing all of the children, knowing that I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

I pointed the sonic screwdriver at the tank as The Doctor said. One by one the little white orbs began to die out and the tank started to lose its glow.

Suddenly the lights flipped on blinding me, I shielded my eyes from the brightness of the light. A familiar breeze picked up and I uncovered my eyes.

"Perious?" I asked in disbelief as the lizard humanoid clad in Roman armor approached me. The children beside me huddled behind me in an attempt to hide themselves. "Shh it's okay." I comforted them.

"Must protect-" A loud bang rang throughout the room as Perious fell to the ground in a heap.

A gasp escaped my lips as I stared at Perious lying on the ground. He wasn't moving.

At that moment The Gatekeeper from earlier that day stood in the doorframe blocking the entrance. The same sinister smirk that chilled me to the bone continued to grace his thin lips. His unsettling pale eyes examined me carefully. A low chuckle escaped his lips as I ushered the children towards the exit The Doctor and I originally came through behind me, it sealed shut before we could reach it.

"How sweet, trying to protect the children?" He laughed causing the blood in my veins to run cold.

Behind him a pair of shadowy figures with glowing red eyes loomed. They made to step forward, but The Gatekeeper stopped them with a flick of his hand.

"Looks like you don't have much of a plan to go off of now do you? Too bad because I was looking forward to a bit of a challenge, but I guess that won't be happening today." He sniffed the air in my direction and shivered as a creepy smile tugged at his lips. "My, my, are you powerful; just what I need for my plan to take route."

He motioned for the shadow men to come after me. I gulped nervously, my heart pounding furiously in my chest as my palms began to sweat. Frantically I searched the room for a way out, only to turn up fruitless.

A loud explosion rumbled throughout the room as a nearby wall burst sending stray rocks every which way. The Doctor crawled out of the debris coughing and waving dust out of his face.

"Last time I use dynamite like that." He muttered to himself. Looking up he greeted us with a sort of surprised look. "Oh, hello. Sorry, but was I interrupting something?" He asked innocently. I felt a wave of relief wash over me._ Thank God!_

His lovely grey-green eyes landed on me and a smile brightened his face. "Claire, great job freeing the children I knew you would do splendid. Good thing I lended you the sonic" He winked before turning to The Gatekeeper.

"Ah Mr. Gatekeeper, there you are. Been looking everywhere for you and you're little cronies."

"Restrain them." The Gatekeeper said with a yawn.

A pair of shadow men suddenly appeared behind The Doctor, restraining him as another pair made their way for me.

Not knowing what else to do, I quickly shoved the sonic into the hands of a little girl who was standing behind me and nodded in the Doctor's direction before they restrained me. I tried fighting against them but their grip was too strong on me.

"Ooh, this one's got some fight in her, I like that." The Gatekeeper smirked.

"Leave her out of this." The Doctor growled suddenly catching both The Gatekeeper and I by surprise.

"Now someone's being a little overprotective, don't you think?" The Gatekeeper chuckled darkly.

"I will not lose anyone else! Not again! No let her go!" The Doctor threatened. I had never seen the dark side of The Doctor, he always seemed so cheerful and carefree, but there was definitely more sides of him. I don't know why, but that terrified me.

A loud buzzing noise filled the room and The Doctor was suddenly free.

"Brilliant! Thank you, Valeria." He gratefully took the sonic screwdriver from the little girl beside him and turned to face The Gatekeeper.

"Now, tell me. What were you draining from these children?" The Doctor asked coolly.

"I might as well tell you, since you're going to die anyways." The Gatekeeper said with a shrug. "I was draining them of their souls." He smiled maliciously. "The perfect ingredient for my concoction to destroy this planet so my species may be reborn. The Ameniatacs will start anew!"

"Ameniatacs? I thought you lot burned out centuries ago?"

"We did, but I survived. I am the last of my kind. For all of these years I've been searching for a way to rekindle my race. Now I have finally found it and I will no longer have to weep in loneliness."

A dark shadow seemed to cast itself over The Doctor and a wave of deep sorrow and regret flashed in his eyes.

"If you were to follow through with this plan of yours, has it ever crossed your mind that you will be killing off a whole other race? What if someone of the Transylvanians end up surviving? Then they will be the last of their kind. Right in the same place you stand now. Trust me; you don't want to be the cause of the extinction of an entire species. I know." The Doctor spoke with such passion the room stayed silent for a moment after he spoke.

The Gatekeeper stood there in shock before he collected himself.

"You have no power over me, Doctor, last of the Time Lords. The Oncoming Storm. You seem to really live up to your name." The Gatekeeper smirked evilly.

The Doctor glared back at him, his jaw jutting out slightly in anger.

I averted my eyes from the scene for a moment and noticed that spot where Perious once lay was empty. _What happened to him?_

"If you continue on like this, then this whole planet will explode, wiping out another treasured race. Do you really want that?" The Doctor warned.

"Whatever it takes to get my species back!" The Gatekeeper thundered as he slammed his boney hand down on a button of the larger tank.

The tank began to glow once more and the children around me suddenly began slipping into a coma again.

All of a sudden a blue fire engulfed The Gatekeeper. The Doctor and I shielded our eyes from the brightness of the flames as a chilling wind filled the room. When I uncovered my eyes The Gatekeeper was nothing, but a pile of glittering ash on the floor. The Doctor looked down solemnly at it before rushing to my side. The shadow men that were restraining me had disintegrated allowing me to move freely once more.

"Thank the stars." The Doctor sighed in relief as he pulled me into a comforting embrace.

"Perious…how?" I started

"He's immortal, yes." The Doctor said before quickly running back to the tank. He scanned it with the sonic screwdriver only to growl slightly under his breath. "No, no, no! He kicked up the process!"

"What?" I gasped.

"We have fifty seconds. Ok I'm about to do something really stupid. Do you trust me?" He asked taking a hold of my hand.

I squeezed it in return.

"Yes."

"Geronimo!" He yelled pointing the sonic screwdriver at the tank. A loud explosion rang throughout the room. The blast from the explosion sent us flying across the room and the next thing I remembered was being engulfed in darkness.

**A/N:**** Feel free to leave a review! They make me happy! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own anything Doctor Who all rights belong to the BBC.**

I blinked my eyes open. Everything was blurry and my mind felt like it was in a constant state of fog. Slowly my head began to clear and my eyes started to refocus only to reveal; pale walls, sterile floors, and many different kinds of monitors.

_Great I'm in a hospital._

I groaned at the thought and attempted to push myself up. A sharp pain went through my right side and my head began swimming as nausea came over me.

_Bad Idea._

"No, no, no." I was gently pushed back down and a hand gently brushed back stray bits of hair.

"Doctor-"I started, but my throat burned when I tried to speak.

"Here this will help." The Doctor handed me a glass containing a bright green liquid.

I eyed it uncertainly before downing the mysterious liquid. Immediately I spit it back out in The Doctor's face, gagging in the process.

"Oh God, what the hell was that?" I asked my voice suddenly back to normal.

"Oi, don't go spitting liquids in my face!" The Doctor said in disgust, wiping his face on my blanket.

"Eww, you are so gross!" I laughed.

The Doctor threw me a cheesy grin as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Why am I in a hospital?" I asked suddenly.

"You're not in a hospital; you're in the TARDIS medical bay. You got knocked out when I counteracted the tank from exploding. The energy sent out very forceful waves of pressure knocking you out in the process. Nothing to worry about though, you just have a minor concussion and a bruise on your right side. You'll probably be a little sore for the next couple of days. As for the liquid I just gave you, that was a throat cleanser, so now you can speak with no problem." The Doctor explained.

"What about Transylvania and the children? Are they ok?" I asked worry lacing my voice.

"The planet is safe, for now. As for the children, they're back with their families and going about their normal way of Transylvanian life." He assured me.

I let out a sigh of relief and let my eyes rest on the monitor to my left. It made a soft humming noise and consisted of intricate green glowing circles. I stared at the symbols in awe wondering what they stood for.

The Doctor followed my line of vision and smiled sadly. "It's Gallifreyan. The ancient language of the Time Lords."

"It's beautiful."

The Doctor stood up from the bed. "You should get some rest. If you're feeling better tomorrow we'll go to a much quieter planet."

"Doctor."

He stopped at the door and turned around eyeing me expectantly.

"You never told me about Gallifrey."

A forlorn expression crossed The Doctor's features. He looked down at his feet before looking back up at me a hurt smile tugging at his lips.

"You would have loved it, Claire. Red orange skies and sliver leaves on all of the trees. One of the most beautiful planets these old eyes have seen."

"We can't go there can we?" I asked.

He shook his head with a sad smile.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

The Doctor fell quiet for a moment.

"You don't have to answer! I'm sorry I never should've asked you." I said quickly, regretting that I brought up an obviously touchy subject.

"No, it's ok." The Doctor moved back to the bed and settled on the edge of it again. "There was a war. The Time War. I'm the last of my kind, the last of the Time Lords."

"I'm sorry." I whispered reaching a hand out, softly resting it on top of The Doctor's hand.

He smiled slightly and brought my hand to his lips and kissed it softly. I felt my heart jolt suddenly and a blush heated up my cheeks. I averted my eyes quickly and stared back at the monitor.

"Rest." The Doctor said leaving the room.

My eyes fluttered open revealing the pale walls of the TARDIS Medical Bay. I sat up, feeling a lot better than the day before. I had a slight headache and my side was sore, but other than that I was ok.

I scanned the room for The Doctor, but he was nowhere to be found. I considered calling for him, but decided against it. _He probably wouldn't be able to hear me anyways. Who knows how big this ship really is… _I swung my legs over the bed, steadying myself as I carefully stood up. I wobbled a little, but soon caught my balance. Once I was sure I would be able to walk about with no trouble I set off to find The Doctor.

In the hallway outside the Medical Bay were several other doors and corridors, leaving me feeling completely lost and unsure of which path to take. I looked to the corridor on the left and felt the urge to take the path. I started heading down the path and the TARDIS hummed in response, almost as if it were guiding me to where I needed to go, but that wasn't possible… was it? This was a ship certainly it couldn't be alive…

After a few short minutes of following the long corridor passing other doors and passageways along the way I soon ended up in the console room. I walked up to the console and scanned the room, still no sign of The Doctor.

"Doctor?" I called out.

"Down here!"

I looked down and saw a whole other level through a glass floor that I hadn't noticed before. I bounded down the stairs and met up with The Doctor, who was sitting on a swing fiddling with a couple of loose wires above his head. A pair of ridiculous looking goggle covered his eyes causing me to chuckle slightly.

The Doctor looked up at me in confusion. "What's so funny?"

I quickly bit back my laughter. "Nothing."

He shrugged it off and continued on with his work. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you." I sat down on one of the steps and watched him work.

He took the goggles off and grinned like the Cheshire cat from _Alice in Wonderland._ "Great! Where to next?"

"Actually can you take me home?" I asked shyly.

Immediately the Doctor's face fell. "Yes, I'll bring you home. I understand. The adventures I take people on do tend to be dangerous a good majority of the time, even though most of the time I don't plan on it. I don't blame you for wanting to leave really, you'll probably be much safer back in Salem." The Doctor passed me on the steps and stepped up to the console and started to plug the coordinates in for Salem.

I ran up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder causing him to stop what he was doing and look at me. "I didn't want to leave you, I just needed to pick up a few things back home and let my friends know that I'll be gone for a while so they don't worry about me, as well as settle a few things with my school so I can travel. But if you want me to leave I will."

The Doctor quickly pulled me into a warm hug. "Of course I want you to stay. I was afraid you wanted to leave because you got injured." He mumbled into my shoulder.

I laughed lightly. "It's going to take much more than that to get rid of me."

The Doctor pulled away and smiled. "To Salem?"

"To Salem."

The TARDIS doors opened allowing The Doctor and I to step out into the street where my apartment was. The sun was out causing it to be warmer than I last remembered, the leaves were changing color and a light breeze blew the ones that had already fallen about.

"Uh… Doctor, you said you would get me back a few minutes later. Its mid afternoon." I observed scrunching my nose slightly.

"Oops, must have time jumped a little. Doesn't seem like it was too long. Once I promised a little girl that I would be back in five minutes, and didn't come back until 14 years later; poor little Amelia, the girl who waited. Trust me it could've been much worse."

We walked up to the door and I tried the door handle. It was unlocked. Which was strange because Molly usually had class at this time. We walked in only to find Molly, Danae, and Maia sitting on the couch rifling through a pile of papers on the coffee table. When we walked in their heads perked up and they all stared at me like I had two heads.

"Hey guys… why are you staring at me like that?" I asked confused.

Maia suddenly jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug. "I am so sorry I snapped at you. All of this time I thought you were gone and it was all my fault. Please say you'll forgive me." She sobbed into my shoulder.

I stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her down and side glanced at The Doctor, who was suddenly very interested in fixing his jacket sleeves. "How long were we gone?" I asked.

"A year." Danae said getting up from her seat, Molly following suit.

"A year?" I asked in disbelief. I let go of Maia and turned to The Doctor. "We were gone a year?"

The Doctor pulled at his bow tie in discomfort. "Oops."

"We were beginning to think you were dead. You're family's been worried sick, sending search parties out to find you." Molly said. "Where the hell were you and why didn't you call us?"

I gulped and pulled the Doctor aside. "What do I tell them?" I asked in a whisper. "I can't just say that I met an alien, ran away with him to go visit other planets and time periods only to have him accidentally time jump so we came back a year later without even realizing it!"

The Doctor winced. "Let me handle this. I've gotten myself out of many tight situations similar to this."

I rolled my eyes. "Good luck." I said turning back to my friends who stared at us impatiently.

The Doctor spun around to face my friends and flashed them a smile. "Hello, I'm The Doctor. I'm a good friend of Claire's. We ran into each other last year on Halloween and she seemed pretty upset so I decided to take her travelling with me. I'm a traveler and I thought a change of scenery would cheer her up. I guess we lost track of time. Sorry about that, won't happen again."

I face palmed, knowing there was absolutely no way they were going to buy that.

Molly smiled sweetly. "Interesting story, especially since it seems so out of character for Claire. See Claire would never leave without informing her family and friends first. She would also plan something like this, months in advance and settle things with the school first. She is not the type to just take off out of the blue without any sort of notice. Now can you please tell us the real story, before I decide to call the police and tell them that you kidnapped my friend?"

The Doctor gulped and I rubbed my temples in frustration. "Can I just tell them the truth?"

"The truth would be nice." Molly said sarcastically.

I glanced at the Doctor, telepathically asking him permission to tell my friends the truth about him and what had happened. He sighed and nodded in my friends' direction before crossing his arms across his chest.

"Ok you guys probably won't believe me and quite frankly I won't blame you." I inhaled and exhaled slowly before telling them my very unbelievable story.

"So he's an alien?" Danae asked in disbelief.

"Time Lord." The Doctor corrected.

"You're not going to probe us or anything are you?" Maia asked.

I face palmed, wishing we never stumbled upon my friends.

The Doctor shrugged casually. "I could if you wanted me to."

My friends immediately burst into a fit of giggles while I gasped in horror and whacked him on the shoulder.

"Oi, what I do now?" He asked rubbing his shoulder.

"That was inappropriate."

"What was inappropriate?" The Doctor asked clearly confused. I glared at him causing him to finally get the message. "Oh my stars, I am so, so sorry." He quickly apologized a blush tainting his cheeks slightly.

"You guys remind me of an old married couple." Maia laughed. "Are you sure you aren't dating?"

I felt a blush rising on my cheeks as I glared at her.

"No, no, no, we're not." The Doctor quickly stammered out blushing slightly as well.

Maia threw us a knowing smirk before dropping the subject.

"Wait you said you had a box that was bigger on the inside and could travel in both space and time?" Molly asked not believing the story she just heard.

"Yup." The Doctor stated proudly straitening his bow tie. _Oh great they're fueling his ego…_

"How is that even possible?"

The Doctor smirked. "There are many possibilities out there."

"You said you were an alien correct?" Danae asked.

"Time Lord."

"Right Time Lord, how come you speak with a British accent?" She asked curiously. I turned to him curious as to why that was as well.

The Doctor shrugged. "Why not?"

_Real straight forward… _

The Doctor clapped his hands together suddenly. "Alright Claire settle whatever it was you needed to settle and then we're off."

"Wait, you're leaving again?" Danae asked.

"Just for a little while. I'll come back."

"And who knows how much longer that's going to be." Molly said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Listen guys, something amazing has happened to me and I'm not going to sit around here wondering if I'll get a job after college or if I'll be able to support myself later on in life. I've been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience what's beyond the world we know and I am not going to blow that chance." I stated storming up to my bedroom to pack what I needed.

Once I was all packed I trudged down the stairs, duffel bag and art portfolio in hand. The Doctor met me at the bottom of the staircase. "Are you sure you want to come with me?"

I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. "You don't want me to come do you?"

"No, no, no, it's just that you have so much here. You have a family and friends who care deeply about you. I don't want to take you from them."

I averted my eyes from his suddenly feeling very shy to look back up at him. "When I'm around you…" My voice shook slightly from nerves, I never was good at speaking my min, let alone my feelings. "When I'm around you I open up more. I can speak my mind more freely and I'm not afraid of what others will think when I'm with you. I don't know why, but I feel like I can easily be myself around you. I'm sorry that probably sounded really cheesy."

The Doctor stared at me for a moment before pulling me into a hug. "I'm proud of you." He whispered in my ear before pulling away and holding his hand out to me. "Cellphone, hand it over."

I raised an eyebrow before dropping the duffel bag to reach for my cellphone in my pocket. "Why do you want my cellphone?"

The Doctor snatched the phone from my hand and started scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. "Just a simple upgrade so you can reach anyone from anywhere from any planet. Pretty much the best service in the universe." He explained before handing my cell phone back once it was done.

"Why would you do that?" I asked softly.

"So this way you can contact you're family and friends at any time and they an do the same for you. I want to take you with me and I don't want to separate you from your home. Ugh, old age is definitely making me more selfish."

I laughed. "Thank you."

"And one more thing." The Doctor said taking my hand in his. He held my palm face up and placed a tiny silver key in it. "You're very own key to the TARDIS." He whispered before folding my fingers over it with his own.

I smiled shyly up at him and examined the tiny silver key in my hands, it felt cool to the touch and seemed to hum with life. _The key to possibilities…_

The Doctor threw my duffel bag over his shoulder and we headed back into the living room where my friends were waiting.

"I'm sorry I was gone for so long and I promise that I won't be gone for that long again. You guys can call me whenever you want and I'll call you whenever I can as well." I said praying they would understand.

Danae was the first to walk up to me and give me a hug. "Go out there and enjoy yourself, just try not to get yourself killed ok?"

"I promise." I said pulling away.

Maia then wrapped me in another bone crushing hug. "Show those aliens what you got girl, oh and make sure you keep an eye on that particular one over there." She said nodding in the Doctor's direction. "I sense a future romance kindling with that one. Trust me he seems like the perfect type for you.

I pulled away from her blushing professedly. "I doubt that's going to happen."

Maia smirked "I don't know, you'll be surprised at what might happen."

I shook my head at her before turning to Molly.

"Sorry for the way I acted. I'm just surprised that you're actually doing this, but then again I'm glad that you are. It's about time you break out of that shell of yours and show the universe what you can do. Kick some alien butt." She said hugging me.

I laughed before pulling away. "Don't worry I will."

"Come on Claire, we have planets to explore." The Doctor called impatiently.

"He needs to learn how to wait." I groaned before heading out the door.

"Where are we headed?" I asked stepping into the TARDIS.

"I actually have a few friends I need to pick up. I might have left them a bit too long. Let's hope Amy's not mad at me. Oh wait till you meet the Ponds! I'm sure you'll get along swimmingly!" The Doctor rambled.

"Swimmingly?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, swimmingly. I like that word. Swimmingly is cool."

I laughed and gestured to my bag and portfolio. "Uh, where should I put these?"

"Oh, the TARDIS prepared a room for you. She's telepathic so she can create the perfect room for you."

"Ok, cool. Umm where do I go?"

"Up that staircase, down the hall and it's the first room on the left. You're name should be engraved in the door."

"Ooh fancy. Be right back." I followed the Doctor's directions and came across a wooden door with name scrawled out in a delicate script. Underneath were the same Gallifreyan symbols from the monitors in the Medical Bay.

I opened the door and gasped. The room was absolutely stunning. The walls were painted a light silvery color and the flooring was a dark grey-purple carpet. In the center of the room was a queen-sized bed with a light purple bedspread with black and silver roses embroidered along the ends of the fabric. The bed had too many pillows than I knew what to deal with along with a black headboard that was carved into intricate swirls with white Christmas lights weaved into it. Off to the side was a walk in closet filled with too many clothes to wear in one lifetime. I even had my own bathroom with a bathtub and shower.

Once I had settled in and changed into a pair of light blue jeans and sea foam green long sleeved, with sea foam green converse to match, I ran back to the console room. I spotted the Doctor fiddling with a few controls. I quickly ran up to him and pounced on his back.

"Thank you so much! I never expected a room like that."

The Doctor laughed. "Don't thank me, thank the TARDIS."

"Thank you TARDIS!"

"Call her Sexy."

"Thank you Sexy!" I called out and the Doctor and I fell into a fit of laughter as the TARDIS hummed happily in response.

"Ready to meet the Ponds?"

"To the Ponds!"

And with that we took off to collect the Ponds.

**A/N:**** Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Been very busy lately. I'll try to be more consistent, but sometimes life happens. :P Hope you all enjoyed. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who in anyway, all rights go to the BBC**

We landed in a children's playground in England, the strange part was that there were hundreds if not thousands of small black cubes all over the playground, the road and across the street. According to the news on my phone they had gone global.

The Doctor perched himself up in a climbing frame examining one of the boxes.

"What's with the cubes?" I called up to him.

"I have absolutely no idea." He answered turning the cube over and over in his hands.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor and I looked behind us and saw a trio of people staring at us from across the street. Two were male one of them appeared to be middle aged while the other was probably in his late 20's early 30's same as the red headed woman who stood next to him who obviously called out to the Doctor. All three of them were dressed in morning attire.

"Invasion of the very small cubes. That's new." The Doctor called back.

"Amy, Rory, Brian, I'd like you to meet Claire the newest edition to the TARDIS." The Doctor said patting me on the head.

"Hi." I said shyly giving them a tiny wave.

"Hello nice to meet you. So how do you like traveling with the Doctor?" Amy asked falling into step with me.

"It's fun. Dangerous, but fun." I said.

Amy laughed. "The running is always the best."

I nodded joining in her laughter.

"Oi, Pond! Quit poisoning Claire's innocent mind and get in the TARDIS!" The Doctor called from inside the TARDIS.

"I am not poisoning her mind. I'm having a normal conversation with her. I finally have another girl on the ship and here you are getting jealous of me spending time with her." Amy yelled back as we made our way into the TARDIS.

"I am not jealous." The Doctor mumbled before picking up a cube and examining it with a magnifying glass. "Their all absolutely identical. Not a single molecule's difference between them. No blemishes, imperfections, individualities."

"What if they're bombs? Billions of tiny bombs? Or transport capsules maybe, with a mini robot inside. Or deadly hard drives. Or alien eggs? Or messages needing decoding. Or they're all parts of a bigger whole. Jigsaw puzzles that need fitting together." Brian suggested.

"Very thorough, Brian. Very, very thorough. Well done. Stay here." The Doctor said stacking a cube on top of the cube Brian was currently holding. "Watch these. Yell if anything happens."

The Doctor, Amy, Rory and I started putting together boxes of different items and carrying them out of the TARDIS.

"Doctor, is this an alien invasion? Because that's what it feels like." Amy asked.

"They're couldn't be life forms in every cube could there?" Rory asked.

The Doctor turned around and faced the three of us. "I don't know. And I really don't like not knowing."

We carried the boxes into the kitchen and set them all down on the kitchen table.

"Right, I need to use you're kitchen as a lab. Cook up some cubes. See what happens." The Doctor said flipping on the sink.

"Right, I'm due at work." Rory said.

The Doctor turned around in disbelief. "What you've got a job?"

"Of course I've got a job. What do you think we do when we're not with you?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I imagine mostly kissing."

Rory rolled his eyes and I tried stifling a laugh behind my hand.

"I write travel articles for magazine and Rory heals the sick." Amy informed us.

"My shift starts in an hour. You don't know where my scrubs are?" Rory asked Amy.

"In the lounge, where you left them."

I side glanced at the Doctor and saw him look at Amy with a sort of disgusted look on his face while she glared back at him. _Awkward…_

I set to work on placing a few cubes in the now boiling water like the Doctor instructed while Amy and the Doctor spoke quietly to one another.

All of a sudden the front door smashed down and soldiers dressed head to toe in black bullet proof suits came barging in with guns pointing at us. The Doctor quickly moved to where I was standing and pulled me behind him.

"Clear trap one, kitchen secured." One of the soldiers called out.

"Trap three, back garden secured." Another one called back.

The Doctor, Amy and I shared a confused glance as Rory suddenly came walking into the room, weaving through the soldiers with his hands up.

"There are soldiers all over my house, and I'm in my pants." Rory said gesturing to his underwear.

I quickly stifled a laugh and averted my eyes as the Doctor laughed examining Rory's rather comical underwear.

"My whole life I've dreamed of saying that, and I miss it by being someone else." Amy said.

A blonde woman then came weaving in through the crowd of soldiers. "All of these muscles, and they still don't know how to knock. Sorry about the raucous entrance." The woman apologized. "Spike in Arton energy reading at this address. In the light of the last twenty-four hours, we had to check it out, and the dogs do love a run out. Hello. Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at UNIT." The woman introduced herself. She suddenly noticed the Doctor. "And with a dress sense like that…" She pulled out a mini scanner and placed it over the Doctor's chest. She pulled it away. Satisfied with the results. "You must be the Doctor. I hoped it would be you."

The Doctor saluted her and the clapped his hands together. "Tell me, sine when did science research run the military, Kate?"

"Since me. UNIT's been adapting. Well, I dragged them along, kicking and screaming, which made it seem like more fun than it actually was."

"What do we know about these cubes?" The Doctor asked.

"Far less than we need to." Kate said pacing the room. "We've been freighting them in from around the world for testing. So far, we've subjected them to temperatures of plus and minus two hundred degrees Celsius, simulate a water depth of five miles, dropped one out of a helicopter at ten thousand feet and rolled our best tank over it. Always intact."

"That's impressive." The Doctor said. "I don't want them to be impressive. I want them to be vulnerable with a nice Achilles heel."

"We don't know how they got here, what they're made of, or why they're here."

"And all around the world people are picking them up." The Doctor threw a cube in the air and caught it. "And taking them home."

"Like iPad's have dropped out of the sky. Taking them to work, taking pictures, making films, posting them on Flickr and YouTube. Within three hours, the cubes had a thousand separate Twitter accounts."

"Twitter?" The Doctor said in disgust and moved to the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"I've recommended we treat this as a hostile incursion. Gather them all up and lock them in a secure facility. But that would take massive international agreement and co-operation."

"We need evidence." The Doctor said approaching us. "The cubes arrived in plain sight, in vast quantities, as the sun rose. So, what does that tell us?" He came up behind me and draped his arms across Amy and Rory's shoulders and rested his chin on top of my head. I blushed, suddenly aware of just how warm he was as he pressed his body up against my back.

"Maybe they wanted to be seen. Noticed." Amy offered.

"Or more than that, they want to be observed. So we observe them." The Doctor said pulling away from us as he tossed a cube in the air. "Stay with them round the clock. Watch the cubes, day and night. Record absolutely everything about them. Team cube, in it together." He said kissing a cube.

The Doctor insisted that we stay at the Pond's in order to keep an eye on the cubes. I stayed in the guest bedroom while the Doctor stayed up all hours of the night keeping an eye on the cubes. I was beginning to wonder if he ever slept.

So far we've been staying with the Pond's for four days. I had to admit that I really liked the Pond's. Amy was quickly becoming a close friend and I've had a few good conversations with Rory whenever he was around. They were both very lovely people and you could definitely tell that the Doctor cared greatly for the couple.

The only downside of our stay with the Ponds was the Doctor. He was becoming quite irritable and was restless day in and day out.

The four of us were hanging out in the lounge keeping an eye on a pile of the cubes. The Doctor sat in between the Ponds on the sofa while I was curled up on an adjacent armchair. The Doctor was hanging upside down on the sofa examining one of the cubes.

"Four days." He said irritably. "Nothing! Nothing! Not a single change in any cube anywhere in the world." He started smacking one of the cubes with his hand before slamming it back down on the coffee table and sitting upright. "Four days. And I'm still in your lounge!"

"You were the one who wanted to observe them." Amy pointed out.

"Yes, well, I thought they'd do something, didn't I? Not just sit there while everyone eats endless cereal!" He jumped up from the couch and began pacing around the room.

"You said we had to be patient." Rory reminded him.

The Doctor spun around in annoyance. "Yes, you! You, not me! I hate being patient. Patience is for wimps." He calmed down a little and plopped down on the sofa in between the ponds. "I can't live like this. Don't make me. I need to be busy."

"Fine! Be busy! We'll watch the cubes." Amy shouted and the Doctor ran out of the room.

"He sure does know how to act like an annoying two year old." I muttered under my breath.

"Tell me about it." Rory said shaking his head.

I glanced out the window and saw the Doctor mowing the lawn. He finished and turned to painting the fence. Twenty minutes passed and he was back inside with the vacuum cleaner. Amy, Rory, and I lifted our feet as he came zooming by with it and into the other room. A few minutes later we heard a few things breaking in the kitchen and the occasional 'Oops, Don't worry I'll fix it.' Ten minutes passed and he was back outside trying to fix the car, which didn't need fixing. Amy and Rory shared annoyed glances while I watched the Doctor outside the window kicking a soccer ball up in the air.

Before we knew it the Doctor was back in the house and plopped down on the sofa.

"That's better. Nothing like a bit of activity to pass the time. How long was I gone?"

Rory glanced at his watch. "Err, about an hour."

The Doctor shook his head. "I can't do it. No. Come on, Claire." He called as he ran into the TARDIS.

"Where are you going?" Amy called as we followed him into the TARDIS.

We walked into the TARDIS and saw Brian still staring at the cubes in the same spot we had left him in four days ago.

"Brian, you're still here." The Doctor asked surprised.

"You told me to watch the cubes." He answered.

"Four days ago."

"Ah! Doesn't time fly when you're alone with your thoughts?" Brian said in surprise.

"You can't just leave, Doctor." Rory protested.

"Yes, of course I can. Quick jaunt, restore sanity. Ooh, hey, come if you like." He said draping his arms over the Pond's shoulders.

"They can't just go off like that." Brian protested.

"Can't they? Can't you? That's how it goes, isn't it?"

"I've got my job." Rory pointed out.

"Oh yes, Rory. The universe is awaiting and you've got a little job to do." The Doctor said sarcastically.

Rory turned on him. "It's not little. It's important to me. Look, what you do isn't all there is."

The Doctor appeared hurt and took his arms off the couple before quietly answering back. "I never said it was." He continued to stare at the pair, who were avoiding eye contact before stepping away. "All right. Fine. Claire and I will be back soon. Monitor the cubes. Call me. I'll have the TARDIS set to every Earth news feed." The Doctor turned to the console and started punching in coordinates, a deep frown on his face.

I looked back to the Ponds who quietly walked out the door.

**A/N:**** Hope you enjoyed! :)**


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